by Jonathan Sadler

Created on: June 20, 2009   Last Updated: June 24, 2009

Bribed? No. Paid? Yes. Children should not be bribed to do chores. However, paying them a modest amount will support the notion that you are rewarded for hard work.

There are some chores that children should be bound to do without any expectation of pay or benefit, other than the benefit provided by the chore itself. For instance, a child should keep his or her room clean and thus benefit from being able to find things when they need or want them. What we have found beneficial is to offer a very small monetary reward for going above and beyond the call of duty. A chore gets done (sometimes a chore that is a least favorite of the grown-ups in the house) and the child has a small benefit to feel good about, to put into his or her savings, and to learn a valuable lesson about responsibility.

We have used a small chart posted to our refrigerator with a list of chores. Typical chores on our list include things like emptying the dishwasher, dusting, sweeping, folding laundry, and carrying out the trash. Each chore has a small monetary amount associated with it, ranging from ten cents to twenty-five cents. As the child completes a chore they initial beside it. Mom or dad then go behind and make sure the chore was completed to satisfaction and initial the chart. At the end of the week we add up the chores and pay the total to our children.

The added benefit for us is this....as the children have wants and desires we explain to them that they can use their chore money for what they wish, but that they must save for it. The children associate the work with the payment and thus being able to save for what they want. A side effect of this is that the children will crank out significant amount of work if they have something the really desire.

The chore chart in our home was initiated as a way of teaching our children the value of saving for things we want. In light of the current economic crisis in our country, the tightening of credit lines, and the all out battle between the banks and regulation, we thought it prudent to teach our little ones early that hard work will equal a benefit. We teach them that they must save for what they want and buy it with cash. At times we have found that by the time our children have saved enough money to make their purchase, they have given it some thought and decided that they don't really need the item after all.

Instituting a chore chart in our home has taught my children a great deal about hard work, about earning a living, about saving for your wants, and about thinking about what you need. The chore chart has taught me a great deal about our children and the fact that they really do learn from instruction, that they have wonderfully complex minds, and that they can dust like a champ when they want to go to Toys-R-Us or Target.

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